Implicit memory for nonverbal associations.

A color-naming priming task was used to examine implicit memory for new nonverbal associations. Implicit memory was observed for associations between words and colors and between abstract shapes and colors. The authors also asked whether nonverbal association priming might occur more readily than verbal association priming. Colored compound nonwords were used as stimuli, and participants were asked to attend either to the 2 syllables of the compound nonword or to the compound nonword and the color in which it was printed. The authors found that the association formed depended on which attributes of the stimuli were attended to and were not more readily formed for nonverbal material. The results demonstrate that tasks that encourage unitization between the elements to be associated facilitate associative priming.